Yonemura

I read about Shimmonzen Yonemura in Travel and Leisure magazine. It was our first trip to Japan, and we were traveling with a small group doing a culinary tour. We had two nights on our own in Kyoto, so I planned this very authentic omakase experience. When I was on their website, I searched around ...and found the page to click on for English. I filled out the form with the date we wanted and heard back from My Concierge Japan within a few days. There was a link to pay and we were in! I was very pleased to be able to make a reservation at this tiny, eight seat, one Michelin starred place with such a decorated chef. We used Google maps to walk from our hotel to this unmarked door along a cute road in the Gion District of Kyoto. The rest of the guests were waiting outside the door. They opened promptly at 6pm and we all filed in. We were presented with a cute little booklet in English explaining the Chef’s courses of the day. I won’t go into every dish, but as they were presented, the staff, who all spoke English, explained what the dish was and what utensil (along with chopsticks) to use. The fluidity of the five staff and Chef working together was impressive to watch. There was little talking and a lot of doing. The only rule was that you had to ask to use the restroom, and they approved depending on the timing of the next course. This was clearly stated in the little booklet. We are adventurous eaters, but there were dishes too authentically Japanese that we could not enjoy. Namely the raw Abalone, sea urchin, soft-shelled turtle, and squid. It was mainly a consistency thing, and not necessarily a flavor thing. But we did enjoy the Wagyu beef, gazpacho with hairy crab, all the vegetables, and the many morsels of dessert. We were plenty full when we left. This was a once-in-a-lifetime thing for us; to eat at an omakase restaurant in Japan. I am very happy we experienced it, even though we didn’t care for everything. I highly recommend this truly authentic experience.

Visited June 2026

Tiny restaurant that only seats 8 but wow, size doesn’t matter Michelin restaurants usually have dishes that range from very good to excellent. For Shimmonzen, every dish was excellent. Standouts include the wagyu beef, clam with (a lot of) truffle, curry rice Excellent service of course And cost... half of our meal at Hyotei yesterday 9.5/10

Visited May 2025

A small omakase service with one seating a time. The bar sits right in front of the kitchen; unlike many counter service experiences, there are no staff lurking behind you to address your needs. Everything, and everyone, is in front of you, cooking, playing, pouring drinks, cleaning dishes. It’s a t...eam affair, run by Mr. Yomemura himself, calmly leading his team through each course, subtlety watching the processes and experiences of each guest. There’s a formality to the restaurant, of course, living up to a 2 Michelins star standard, but there also underlays a casualness: pastel cat and dog electric outlet plugs, staff winks and chuckles to each other, Yonemura’s worn blue jeans. The clientele in turn takes up the vibe, in an appreciative, high taste, yet relaxed posture. Drinks are free flowing through a well-curated wine list, and nobody once gets up, not even to use the bathroom, in fear of missing a dish (not that we’d be skewered if we did need to relieve ourselves). As for the dishes themselves, perhaps a bit reserved for a 2 star expectation, but as generous for the price point as any highly rated menu. Wagyu, uni, turtle, fresh Italian black truffle, freely flowing alongside succulent Kyoto produce at an impressively low price point for the ingredients. This is ostensibly French-Japanese fusion, but with Italian and even New World influences. A razor clam gratin has a surprise of fusilli pasta transitioning into a mac-and-cheese. A tartare is created with avocado that somehow becomes a singular flavor with the Uni topping. A squid ink risotto gets topped with a quail egg emulsion. It’s as open to world cuisine as you can get while still sourcing the meat and seafood from an exclusively Japanese tableau. Highlights are the fresh tomato with scallop, dueling wagyu “pies,” turtle soup broth, and passion fruit sorbet. Every dish makes sense, even when simple, nothing sacrificed in terms of freshness or unwanted experimentation. Yonemura brings decades of experience into a Gion charm, providing a taste from the heart to locals and foreigners alike. At the end of the service, it began to rain. I joked to my wife that maybe the restaurant would have some umbrellas to take home since we did not bring any. Nearly second layer, Yonemura walked out with a handful of umbrellas. When we left, it had stopped, but he had to come outside to check for himself that we would not need one of his protectors. The kind of genuine care that you can’t fake, that earns you world renown.

Visited June 2024

We visited Yonemura during our visit to Kyoto and it was one of the best culinary experiences we had in Japan. The chef has an amazing gift of mixing the West with the East and overall we felt that the 16 course journey was a treat to the senses. My favourite was the crab salad with steamed sticky r...ice and the Bouillabaisse of the Hamaguri clam. The Takasaka (raw) chicken went a bit too far for my taste but that is a personal opinion. Finally, I’m not a desert person but I have to say even the dessert menu was out of this world. A few things that for us somewhat missed the mark was the service and the wine list. Service was overall slow as the cooks were also the waiters. On one hand it’s great to have the ppl making the dishes serving and explaining them, however as they were very busy that meant the bar was left unattended for basic service like drinks refills, bread etc. Also surprising that we were waiting for almost 30’ and our amuse arrived before the bread. Finally one comment on the wine list (and that is overall my experience in Japan) was way overpriced for very average wines. We found that in Japan you either have to pay a minimum of 100 pounds for a decent bottle of wine or your choice is very limited. This was also the case in Yonemura where the only 3 bottles of white wine under 70 pounds were very average and overpriced (3,5-3,7 Vivino rating and 3-4 times the retail price).

Visited December 2018

Yonemura is a Kyoto French restaurant with great ambiance and exceptional service. Most importantly, the uniquely created dishes never cease to surprise the palate! The price of JPY 16,000/person for the special Chef’s Dinner Menu is well justified.

Visited January 2018